Footboard and guard-rail for street-cars.



No. 678,60l. Patented July I6, l90l. F. W. WASSENICH.

FOOTBOARD AND GUARD RAIL FOB STREET CARS.

(Application filed Apr. 25, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets8heet 1.

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witmms No. 678,601. Patented July :6, 19m.

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FUOTBUARD AND GUARD RAIL FOR STREET CABS.

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FRANK \V. WASSENIOH, OF BOERNE, TEXAS.

FOOTBOARD ANDGUARD RAIL FOR STREET-=CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,601, dated July 16, 1901. Application filed April 25, 1901. Serial No. 57,365. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. WASSENIOH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boerne, in the county of Kendall and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Footboards and Guard- Rails for Street-Oars; and I do declare the following to be a full,- clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in footboards and guard-rails for open street- Cal's;

The object of the inventionis to provide means whereby the hinged or pivoted footboards of an open summer-car may be readily folded up or let down, and, further, to provide guards adapted to be operated simultaneously with footboards to open and close the passage-Ways on the sides of the car to insure safety and prevent passengers from stepping out on the side of the car facing the adjoining track.

l/Vith these ends in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an open street-car embodying my invention, showing the footboard and guard-rails let down. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the car, a portion of the platform being broken away to show the operatinglever. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the footboard and guard-rails closed up; and Fig. 4: is a sectional view on the line 4 4: of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 represents the body of an open summer-car of ordinary construction provided at its opposite sides with passage-ways for the entrance and exit of passengers, and 2 represents the platforms at the ends of the car.

The footboard 2 is hinged or pivoted at 3 to the side of the car in the usual manner, so as to be let down to a horizontal position for use and closed up to a substantially vertical position when not in use.

Mounted on the under side of the car and extending longitudinally thereof is a rockshaft 4, which turns in suitable roller-bearings 5 and is connected at its ends to the ends of the footboard through the medium of chains 6, passed through suitable guides 7 and adapted when wound upon the shaft to close up the foot-board 3 and when. unwound to let down said footboard. The rockshaft is oscillated in an inward direction by means of a lever 7, pivoted upon the platform at one end of the car and connected with the shaft by means of a rod 8, engaging a crank-arm 9 on the end of the shaft. When this lever is thrown inwardly or away from the shaft, the

connections are drawn upon to oscillate or rock the shaft in an inward direction, thereby winding up the chains upon said shaft and folding up the footboard to substantially a vertical position. The lever is provided with a pawl 9 to engage the rack 10 on the platform to hold it against retraction when adjusted to close the footboard. One or more springs 11 are connected to the body of the car and the rock-shaft to retract said shaft when the lever is released and thrown outwardly to impart a starting movement to the footboard to insure the easy and quick dropping of the same from a closed to an open or horizontal position. These springs may be dispensed with in cases where the footboard is so mounted as to drop automatically by gravity and to retract the rock-shaft.

To the standards at 12 on the sides of the car are pivoted guard bars or rails 13. These bars are pivoted at one end to the standards and are adapted when open to stand in a substantially vertical position and when thrown up or closed to close the passage-way on the side of the car to prevent the exit of passengers on that side. The guard-rails are adapted to be opened and closed simultaneously with the footboard through the medium of links 1e, connected thereto, which links are in turn connected to rods 15, which at their lower ends are formed with eyes 16 to receive one end of a chain 17, said chain extending therefrom through a guide 18 on the bottom of the car and being connected at its opposite end to the rock-shaft t, so as to be wound upon said shaft when the latter is moved inwardly and to be unwound therefrom when the shaft is retracted or moved outwardly. The construction and arrangement of the parts are such that when the operating-lever 7 is thrown inwardly and the rock-shaft oscillated the chains connecting the footboard and connecting-rods of the pivoted guard-rails to the shaft will be wound upon said shaft, thereby folding up the footboard and moving the guard-rails to a horizontal position to close the passage-way on the same side of the car. When the lever is released, the rock-shaft will be retracted or moved outwardly by the downward movement of the footboard or by the action of the spring and will thereupon unwind the chains, and the guard-rails will drop down to a vertical position by gravity, leaving the passage-ways open for the entrance and exit of passengers.

Where two guard-rails are mounted upon one standard, the links of both rails may be connected to the same connecting rod, as shown in the present instance.

It will of course be understood that while I have described only the arrangement of the parts upon one side of the car such arrangement of the parts will be duplicated upon the other side of the car and a lever provided upon each platform-one to operate one set of guard -rails and the footboard and the other to operate the other set of guard-rails and cooperating footboard. By the use of my invention safety is insured, as the guard rails are positively and simultaneously oper ated when the footboard upon the inner side of the car-that is, that side facing the adjoining trackis closed up to extend across the passage-way at that side and prevent passengers from stepping out in front of the car upon the adjoining track. The footboard cannot be closed up without automatically closing the guard-rails. Hence a failure to close the latter at the time the footboard is turned up cannot possibly occur.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction, mode of operation, and advantages of the invention will be readily understood without a further extended explana= tion.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the body of an open car, of a footboard hinged or pivoted to the side of the car, a rock-shaft mounted upon the under side of the car, chains connecting between the footboard and rock-shaft, pivoted guard-rails upon the sides of the car and adapted to be projected to close the side passage-ways, connections between said rails and the rock-shaft, and means for operating the rockshaft to simultaneously close the footboard and guard-rails, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the body of an open car, of a footboard hinged to the side of the car, a rock-shaft mounted in bearings on the under side of the car, chains connecting the ends of the footboard with the ends of the rock-shaft and passed through suitable guides on the car, guard-rails hinged to the side of the car and adapted to be moved upwardly or vertically to a horizontal position to close the side passage-way of the car and to automatically drop down to a vertical position, links connected to the guard-rail, rods connected to the links, chains connecting be tween the rods and rock-shaft, and means for oscillating said shaft to wind the chains thereupon to simultaneously close up the footboard and guard-rails, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

F. W. WASSENIOII.

l/Vitnesses:

J. ALBERT SCHWARZ, WM. J. WINTER. 

